TITLE: Sneak Attack

AUTHOR: Aimee

RATING: PG-13.

PAIRING: BF/RK

SPOILERS: Some pretty big ones for "Hunting Season." Also very minor ones for "Eclipse."

WARNING: This is a slash story, boys and girls; therefore, it features a m/m relationship. If that's not your cup of tea, don't read it!

DISCLAIMER: Benton Fraser, Ray Kowalski, and all things Due South related belong to Alliance, and probably to some other people as well. I am infringing on their copyright by writing this story, but I don't really care.

ARCHIVING INFO: This story may be archived at the main Due South fanfic archive and at the New Ray archive. I'll also be putting it up on my site at http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/4824. Anyone else, please ask first!

FEEDBACK may be sent to aimee_2@hotmail.com. I'd love to hear whatever you have to say about this story!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, I finally managed to write an honest-to-goodness Due South slash story! I hope you like it! Many thanks to my two beta readers, Lee and Anagi. They helped make this a better story. Thanks!

"Sneak Attack"

by Aimee

Ray Kowalski looked up from his bowl of spaghetti as Fraser hung up the phone. "Who was it?" he asked, curious. They were in his apartment, after all, eating dinner together when the call came. He wondered who would think to call here for Fraser, instead of the Consulate.

Fraser beamed with residual pleasure from the call. "It was Maggie. She made it back to Inuvik safely, and..."

He continued talking, describing the phone call in detail, but Ray didn't hear a word after Fraser mentioned his sister's name. Maggie...

He hadn't fallen for a woman that fast since...well, since Stella. For a brief moment, he had even hoped that she might return his affections, or at least was willing to entertain the notion, but of course nothing had come of it. Nothing ever did. He was doomed, that was it. He was doomed never to have anything remotely resembling a love life -- especially if he kept hanging around Fraser.

The man, oblivious as he was, was simply a natural babe magnet. No one would look at a skinny blond punk like him with a gorgeous god like Fraser around. The worst part of it was he couldn't even resent him for it! It's not like he did anything to encourage them; he couldn't help being irresistible. It was just who he was. He felt a brief flash of sympathy for all those women who were impossibly drawn to a man they could never have. Boy, did he know how they felt.

And is it really Maggie that you want? he asked himself. Or is it her brother?

Whatever. It didn't really matter, he decided. Neither of them had shown the least bit of interest in him, after all; both of them had completely ignored him when he flirted and had turned him down when he asked more directly. Must be something about the air up there in the Yukon, makes 'em all completely clueless. It's a miracle they manage to reproduce!

A hand touched his arm suddenly. "Ray? Is there something wrong with your dinner?"

"What?" He jerked slightly, startled out of his thoughts, then realized that he'd been glowering at his plate for the last few minutes, pushing the pasta around instead of eating it. "Oh. No, the food's fine. I'm just, y'know...depressed, I guess."

Fraser cocked his head, studying his friend. "Why?"

"It's Maggie. Before she left, we had a little talk. She basically said she was flattered, but she wasn't interested." He sighed. "It's for the best, I guess. Long-distance relationships never work anyway, and, besides, she still hasn't gotten over her husband dyin' and all."

"Ah," said Fraser.

"It's just that I really liked her. You know? Even if she did do that tasting thing. She was nice, and smart, and, and really beautiful. She's exactly like you; she's just per...fect.... Uh...." His voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying.

Fraser suddenly grew very still in his chair. "Ah," he said again, but this time there was a new and strange wealth of meaning in that single syllable.

"Uh...uh...I mean...you know...uh...." Ray was so flustered he was stammering, but how was he supposed to think clearly with Fraser *looking* at him that way? Studying him with his full concentration, like he was the most important thing in the world at that moment, or like he was a mystery that the Mountie had just solved. Ray felt a sudden heat in his face and knew he was blushing; he wanted to sink through the floor in embarrassment.

"Do you really think I'm good looking?" Fraser asked suddenly.

"What?" squeaked Ray.

"Earlier, before I realized she was my sister, I suggested that Maggie might prefer you to me. You seemed skeptical and remarked, somewhat sarcastically, that I was good looking and you were a 'Chicago flatfoot with experimental hair.' Your rather, as I said, sarcastic tone left me in doubt as to the veracity of your statement, which is why I now find myself forced to ask you if you meant it or not. Do you really think I'm good looking?"

"Well...uh...yeah. I guess."

"You guess?" He sounded vaguely hurt.

"Aw, jeez, Frase, don't do that. Yes, all right? I think you're good looking. You happy now?"

He smiled. "Quite happy; thank you, Ray. You can finish your dinner now."

Ray eyed his partner distrustfully, but the Mountie seemed content to let the conversation rest there. "Okay, then." He picked up his fork and took a bite of his meal.

"I like your hair, by the way. I think it's sexy."

Ray choked.

"Oh dear!" Fraser leapt up and pounded his friend on the back. "Are you all right, Ray? Do I need to perform the Heimlich maneuver?" He gently but efficiently pulled the blond detective out of his chair, then moved closer and put his arms around him.

Ray jumped and tried to pull away. "No! Jeez! I'm fine!" He couldn't seem to get Fraser to let go, but he managed to squirm around to face him -- a big mistake. Now they were standing mere inches apart, the taller man's arms wrapped around him, as if in an embrace. He could feel the kiss of Fraser's breath against his face.

He swallowed, hard. "Oh, man," he whispered faintly.

Fraser smiled a rather predatory smile, a lustful glint in his eyes.

Ray suddenly couldn't breathe.

"As I was saying," the Mountie continued, "I quite like your hair. It may be, as you said, experimental, but it suits you." He lifted one hand from Ray's back and raised it to his head, caressing his hair. Ray shuddered. "It appears spiky and prickly, but is actually soft and warm to the touch."

"Oh. Fraser?"

"Yes, Ray?"

Fraser moved infinitesimally closer, and Ray's brain suddenly emptied of all thought. He could no longer remember what he meant to say, only that it began with a name. "Fraser," he said longingly. "Fraser." It seemed to be enough.

"Yes, Ray. Yes."

And they were kissing.

Cinnamon, Ray thought dazedly. Fraser's lips tasted of cinnamon and apple cider: sweet and tangy, the flavor of home. Of long winter's nights spent curled in each other's arms in front of the fire, watching the snow fall outside. Of intimacy.

Of love.

But the strange, unexpected sweetness of that kiss was tempered with another emotion entirely: pure animal lust. It may have been gentle and sweet, but it was also really *hot*.

Without a doubt, Ray had never experienced a sexier, more intense kiss in his life. Their mouths met and melded, their tongues dueled, their bodies rubbed together, sparking an electric heat between them. He felt as if this one moment changed him in some essential way, leaving him forever branded by its utterly consuming, all- encompassing passion.

Damn, but Fraser could kiss! Well, of course. He's good at everything else; why shouldn't he be good at this too? "Oh yeah," Ray moaned helplessly, and slid his fingers through the dark silk of Ben's hair, holding on tightly, leaning into the solid warmth of the other's body.

He was panting when he finally pulled away.

Fraser, he noted with some satisfaction, was hardly in better condition; his hair was mussed and his lips were swollen, and he seemed to be having trouble catching his breath.

My God, he's beautiful.

Casting about desperately for some way to break the spell before he lost control of himself completely, Ray said the first thing that popped into his head. "I thought you weren't interested in me!"

"What?" Fraser asked, confused. "How could you think that? I've done everything but throw myself at you since I met you!"

"You have not!" Ray protested in astonishment.

"I have too!"

"You have not! I'm the one who's been doing the throwing, and you never... I mean, I *asked* you!"

"Asked me what?"

"I asked you if you thought I was attractive, and you said you weren't qualified to judge, which means, no but I don't want to hurt your feelings by saying so."

Fraser made an exasperated sound somewhere between a snort and a groan. "You asked me if I would think you were attractive if I were a woman. *That's* what I wasn't qualified to judge. I'm *not* a woman, if you haven't noticed --"

"Believe me, I've noticed."

"--and I don't really understand the way they think, to be perfectly honest. I find women...well...confusing. Not *all* women, of course; Maggie, for instance, was quite clear-headed and understandable, and I also got on well with Janet Morse, the bounty hunter, but, on the whole...."

"Huh. So, do you think I'm attractive or not?"

"Yes, Ray, I do. Very much so." His eyes darkened.

"Oh." Ray cleared his throat. "Really?" That wasn't what he meant to say, but it won him one of Fraser's beautiful, room-lighting smiles, so he didn't mind.

"Yes, really." His partner's voice was warm with amused affection.

"Wow." Mounties didn't lie (or at least *this* Mountie didn't), so it must be true. He felt a silly grin spread across his face. "Me, too."

"It would appear we've been speaking at cross purposes, then."

"Yep. Guess so."

"So...do you forgive me?"

"Of course," Ray said automatically, then frowned. "For what?"

"Well, for...that is, for...you see, I knew..."

"Spit it out, Frase."

"I knew you didn't really need the Heimlich," he said in a rush.

"You did, huh."

"Yes. In fact, I timed my statement until...well, you had a mouthful of food, so it seemed that...what I mean to say is..." Fraser was blushing under Ray's scrutiny.

"Fraser! You planned the whole thing, is that what you're saying?"

"Well...um...yes."

After a moment of stunned silence, Ray began to laugh. "I didn't know you had it in you." He shook his head. "Ambushed by a Mountie; I must be losing my touch." At Fraser's anxious look, he quickly added, "'Course I forgive you; it worked, didn't it?" He stretched up and kissed him lightly.

Fraser smiled in relief. "You were proving to be a most elusive prey, Ray. I decided a sneak attack was in order if the hunt was to be successful."

"Well, I think it's time the hunter called it a day, don't you?" He started ushering Ben towards the bedroom.

As they reached the door, Fraser replied demurely, "I think that would be quite a good idea."

As the door closed, Ray pounced, and the hunter happily became the prey.

THE END